Case Number 03947

FIST OF THE NORTH STAR (VOLUME 5)

The Charge

Wherever he appears, chaos follows!

Opening Statement

Fist of the North Star is the original bone-crunching,
shoulder-popping, teeth-shattering, knee-rendering, spleen-puncturing,
head-splitting, eyeball-stomping, arm-wrenching, body-breaking anime. Imagine
Beyond the Thunderdome, but starring Bruce Lee and directed by Lloyd
Kaufman.

Though often dwarfed by the hundreds of newer, better animes released over
the years, when it comes to providing a good ol' fashioned mindless bloodbath,
Fist of the North Star cannot be beat. Manga has done a fine job of
preserving a historic (albeit slightly unpopular) anime for future generations
to enjoy when they get sick of all the "good" anime.

Like you need well-written stories and interesting plot developments.
Pshaw.

Facts of the Case

The world teeters on the brink of destruction, ravaged and devastated by a
global nuclear meltdown of catastrophic proportions. Humanity survives as a
shred of its former self, scrounging the ruined cities for food, shelter, and
water. The land is contaminated; nothing can grow.

Worse, the radiation levels have spurred the development of horrible genetic
freaks, demented human behemoths that torture and slay the pockets of human
beings for their belongings and food. There are no nations, no laws -- only the
strong survive, and gangs of traveling warlords run rampant across the desolate
landscape. Human existence is a nightmare.

But still, humanity survives. And those who are strong can stand up and
fight for the good and the just. Kenshiro is the Fist of the North Star, master
of the ancient martial art "Hokuto Shinken." It is a study of the
internal, of pressure points and deadly body manipulation. With the touch of a
finger, Kenshiro can heal a deadly illness, cause bodies to distort with
strength and muscle mass, or cause internal organs to rupture and explode,
tearing a body apart.

His fighting prowess is legendary. He is the man with the seven stars, the
chosen one, and the savior of the people. Ken is fair and just, but shows no
mercy upon his enemies. His scars are badges of honor, survived from a vicious
encounter with Shin, the Fist of the South Star -- his best friend who,
ultimately, betrayed him and turned to evil.

But there can only be one Fist of the North Star, only one true student of
the Hokuto Shinken, only one to pass along the 2000-year-old tradition, and
Ken's three older brothers all secretly yearn for the secrets that Ken is
destined to receive. Greed and lust have twisted their hearts, corrupted them.
They all have grandiose plans of glory, once Ken is out of the picture, and will
stop at nothing to destroy him -- and when Ken learns that his brother Jagi
turned Shin against him, Ken swears revenge on his brothers once and for
all.

So, Ken wanders the post-apocalyptic wasteland with a small group of
companions, trying to trace the movements of his brothers in an attempt to end
the blood feud -- for there can only be one true Fist of the North Star, and Ken
is the chosen one.

He will not wait for his brothers to come looking for him -- he will find
them first, and make them pay!

The Evidence

Fist of the North Staris an anime not held in the highest regard. Long
dwarfed by other, more popular animes that had small unimportant extra details
like storylines that made sense, interesting plots, good animation, non-cheesy
dubbing, and the like, for years, Fist of the North Star has been
something of a lame duck anime -- passed over, forgotten. Sure, the animation is
somewhat crude, the dialogue is wooden and ineffectual, and each episode is
almost identical to the last. But Fist of the North Star is arguably
classic anime at its best/worst, and its influence can be felt in every good
ultra-violent anime produced in the last 20 years, through anime like Ninja
Scroll and even more obvious, Dragonball Z, which is basically
Fist of the North Star if the show went on for seven years, but with less
blood.

The front cover of this DVD features Ken sporting a giant arrow bloodily
protruding from his chest. The opening credits feature a body count higher than
a Britney Spears concert. This should give you a good idea of what this DVD is
all about. For those of you unfamiliar with this anime staple from the 1980s,
Fist of the North Star features some serious beatings. Bodies
contort and explode, arms get torn apart, heads go "pop," and lots
of...err, white fluid comes gushing out of every orifice.

It makes more sense after all; as far as bodily fluids go, white is...ah,
far more preferable then red. Those wacky Japanese censors. If bodies exploding
at a consistent rate give you the heebie-jeebies, then beware: the squeamish
should stay far away from Fist of the North Star, probably on another
continent.

Every episode is almost a parody of the last -- Ken, just walking around,
manages to run into wave after wave of brutish, multi-colored Mohawk-sporting
urban warriors looking like participants in a drag queen re-enactment of Mad
Max. Ken throws some fingers around, hits some magic pressure point, and
people start exploding. One episode ends and the next one begins, except this
time with a higher body count, with more lavishly dressed villains wearing
shades of pink and lime green.

This is campy 1980s anime at its finest. Magnificent. No plot, no smart
dialogue, just beatings, beatings, gore, gore, and body parts scattered over a
post-apocalyptic wasteland. Sure, there are better, smarter, more intelligent,
sharper, cleverer anime out there; but when you need a solid, mindless thrill,
Fist of the North Star is the best around.

This is the Bloodsport of anime. This is the Troma of anime. This is
the good stuff.

Eight episodes are contained on this DVD, making it pound-for-pound an
incredibly beefy anime disc. On most television anime discs, you are lucky to
get three or four episodes. Credit to Manga for jamming lots of goodness into
one disc, and giving anime fans more bang for their buck.

One of the absolute best parts of Fist of the North Star is the
hilariously long-winded and apocryphal episode titles. Some examples from this
DVD are, "Episode 29: IT'S TOO LATE FOR YOU TO BEG FOR YOUR LIFE! To Hell
With You, Boss Fang!" and "Episode 32: THE FOUR LINKED FISTS OF RAGE!
Jagi! I'll Wait For You In Hell!"

Seriously. It doesn't get any better than that. Just reading the episode
listings cracks me up consistently, even days later.

The original Japanese audio track is included, and boy, does it sound
terrible. It sounds like it was recorded 100 years ago through a tin can
and then transferred to DVD via the telephone. You will never hear DVD audio
sounding this bad in your entire life. Ben Franklin would be disgusted by the
lack of fidelity, compared to his phonograph. The Japanese track sounds like it
was recorded on a soup tin lid.

To call it "dated" would be a severe understatement. I say again:
the sound is dreadful -- terribly aged, degraded, compressed, tinny, and
just overall awful sounding. However, it has authenticity going for it -- the
sound effects and music have been completely re-done in the English dubbed
version, and so watching one version and the other evokes an entirely different
viewing experience. The English version is fist-pounding and modern, while the
Japanese track evokes the campy, 1980s anime feeling that some people really go
for. But for everyone else who actually likes to preserve the functionality of
their eardrums? Stick with the English Dolby 2.0 track.

The strange, synthetic, space-funk soundtrack has been replaced by a
fast-paced drum-and-bass score in the English dub, which, as mentioned before,
radically changes the entire Fist of the North Star experience. I am glad
both are included on this DVD; viewers can choose which they prefer. I shall
speak no more about the horror that is the Japanese track. Thankfully, the
English track sounds great, with clear dialogue, well-camouflaged music, and
bass-thumping impact. Curiously, some of the atmospheric music involves repeated
clicks in the high frequency range, which is a strange soundtrack indeed; and
unless you recognize this curious noise as the soundtrack for this DVD, you may
end up outside with a broom trying to discourage squirrels from copulating on
your front lawn standing in front of a megaphone.

It is hard to get a good critical read on the visual quality. On the one
hand, this is an old anime, and it shows its age. There is an unavoidable
graininess and dirtiness to the image, but Manga has done a great job of
cleaning up the transfer and re-mastering it. Though scratches and damage show
through quite noticeably, the colors look solid and impressively rich. Reds and
oranges in particular are very well represented. Black levels are deep, dark,
and dense. Overall, this is a very pleasing transfer of an old, mistreated
source material and, under the circumstances, the best looking picture quality
short of a three million dollar Citizen Kane-esque restoration you are
likely to see. Don't hold out, because this is likely as good as you'll ever see
Fist of the North Star.

The English dub gets a bit creative sometimes in comparison to the
subtitles, and occasionally takes liberties in the common sense department. Were
it not for the terrible state of the Japanese audio track, this reviewer would
recommend the subtitles to provide a much clearer and concise Fist of the
North Star experience. Extras include character bios, a photo gallery, a
prologue, the Japanese credits, and some extra trailers to boot -- thin, but for
an anime DVD, quite acceptable (even generous).

The Rebuttal Witnesses

I cannot stress enough how bad the Japanese track is. It stuns, it boggles,
it rends, it bleeds, and it hurts. I am all for the preservation of historical
accuracy, but this is like, the Holocaust of audio tracks -- important to
remember and respect, sure, but not something you want reproduced in your living
room on a Tuesday night.

It may be historic, it may be groundbreaking, and it may be cultish and
obscurely popular, but sadly, Fist of the North Star is not exactly an
enduring anime classic. This is bloodthirsty, mindless entertainment. It lacks
absolutely any semblance of sophistication, and thusly, is an acquired
taste.

Some of the English voice acting, as well, is just awkwardly painful,
putting viewers between a rock and a terribly bad Japanese track. The English
voice actor who does Ken, for example, does an incredibly annoying Bruce Lee
kung-fu impression that, metaphorically speaking, has a similar effect of a
cheese grater on your eardrum.

Alas, the biggest complaint of all is if the care that went into the visual
transfer went into the audio restoration, this would be a fantastic DVD indeed.
Instead, not so much -- still an awesome anime DVD, but slightly short of its
potential.

Closing Statement

In terms of sheer bloody beat-em-up, ultra-violent anime excitement and
entertainment, nothing beats Fist of the North Star. If you like your
bodies beaten, and your blood milky-white, then this DVD has your name written
all over it.

Fist of the North Star may be showing its age, but in a classy,
sophisticated way, like a fine bottle of wine. This DVD is the perfect way for a
new generation to experience the high-action martial art world of Ken and
Shin.

The more sophisticated and experienced anime connoisseurs may sneer and jeer
at Fist of the North Star, but nothing beats the school of Hokuto
Shinken for good solid old-school entertaining carnage.

The Verdict

"I HAVE NO PAST TO LOOK BACK ON! Just My Hatred For Evil That Will
Destroy Toki!"

Hey, at least it's better than the live action version! Case dismissed.